SA welcomes support for ICJ case against Israel’s Gaza genocide attack

South Africa has welcomed support for its International Court of Justice (ICJ) genocide case against Israel in a speech to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Earlier this month, South Africa filed an urgent case and hauled Israel to the Peace Palace in The Hague on a charge of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

The historic bid to bring about a ceasefire in the Gaza has received support from across the world.

Support for SA

Speaking during a speech to the UN Security Council high-level debate about Israel’s war on Gaza, Masotsha Mnguni, Political Counsellor at the South African Mission, said for “international law to be credible, it should be uniformly applied and not selective”.

“Several countries and regional organisations have made public statements in support of South Africa’s proceedings against Israel.

 “South Africa welcomes expressions of support for the case before the ICJ and encourages states to intervene if they wish at a later stage in the proceedings,” Mnguni said.

@DIRCO_ZA today Mr Masotsha Mnguni, Counsellor Political at the Mission delivered SA’s statement at the Open Debate of the UNSC on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question. SA stressed that the remedy to the Palestine conflict is the two state solution pic.twitter.com/97gwLZ1d2e

— South Africa 🇿🇦 at the UN 🇺🇳 (@SAMissionNY) January 24, 2024

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Ceasefire

During its oral arguments at The Hague, South Africa’s top legal minds asked the World Court to issue several orders, including for Israel to “immediately suspend” its Gaza offensive; to stop forced displacement; to enable humanitarian access to thousands of displaced Palestinians; and to preserve evidence.

In stressing the urgency for an order, Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh KC told the court of the consequences if it did not grant the provisional measures South Africa sought.

“Israel continues to deny that it is responsible for the humanitarian crisis it has created, even as Gaza starves. The aid it has belatedly begun to allow in is wholly inadequate, and does not come anywhere close to the average 500 trucks being permitted daily before October 2023.

“Any unilateral undertakings Israel might seek to give about future aid would not remove the risk of irreparable prejudice, not least considering Israel’s past and current conduct towards the Palestinian people, including the 16 years of brutal siege on Gaza,” Ní Ghrálaigh argued.

Shared humanity

Professor Vaughan Lowe argued that nothing can ever justify genocide, no matter how great the threat to Israeli security may be.

The legal team also argued that South Africa’s genocide case against Israel underscores the “very essence of our shared humanity” and that Israel’s attack on Gaza extends beyond the fight against Hamas but is “embedded in the fabric of Palestinian life in Gaza.”

Israel argued the claims were baseless.

Israel’s brutal war on Gaza − now in its 110th day − has killed at least 25 490 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and wounded 63 354, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

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